Not Satisfied with P2P, RIAA Targets Usenet

Long before P2P networks, Usenet was a popular way to share binary files, besides of course, conversations. What with the RIAA already targeting P2P networks, why should it forget the old standby?

In a lawsuit filed on October 12, the RIAA says that Usenet newsgroups contain "millions of copyrighted sound recordings" in violation of federal law.

Only Usenet.com is named as a defendant for now, but the same logic would let the RIAA sue hundreds of universities, Internet service providers, and other newsgroup archives. AT&T offers Usenet, as does Verizon, Stanford University and other companies including Giganews.

That's what makes this lawsuit important. If the RIAA can win against Usenet.com, other Usenet providers are at legal risk, too.

It's probably unfortunate that the target of the lawsuit, Usenet.com, says on its site that it "gives you access to millions of MP3 files and also enables you to post
your own files the same way and share them with the whole world." This will probably not sit too well with a jury.